Pillai can come out of jail before February 2012

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: R Balakrishna Pillai will have to remain in jail until he completes one-third of the total sentence of one-year imprisonment before his remission petition is even considered. The State Government is likely to take this stand when the report on the petition is taken up for discussion by the Cabinet on June 15. With no more parole, R Balakrishna Pillai, who returned to jail on Sunday, will now anxiously wait for the mercy of the UDF Government. The maximum of 45-day parole for a one-year sentence had been fully utilised by Pillai and he can come out of jail before february next year only if the government accepts his remission petition .  ADGP (Prisons) Alexander Jacob in his report to the Home Department said that Pillai is yet to complete one-third of the total sentence period which is mandatory for considering the remission petition. The Cabinet is likely to go by this version as the UDF fear that a hasty decision on Pillai might lead to further litigation.The UDF leaders are also of the opinion that the Cabinet should seek more legal opinion on this before taking a decision on the petition. The Congress-led UDF plans to tread cautiously on the issue as it would attract more political controversies as Pillai had been punished in a corruption case.ADGP (Prisons) in his report also suggested that there is no precedence in the state of considering a remission petition of a person who is punished under corruption charges. There is also a demand from the UDF leaders that the remission petition should not be considered until the Assembly session is over in July as any favourable decision towards Pillai as the opposition would put the government in the dock on the issue.